Marhamatullahi wabarakatuh. Everyone welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wasalamu ala rasulullah, wa ala abihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Alhamdulillah, we are truly blessed to have Dr. Rania with us tonight. Alhamdulillah, who has been not just, I think, an immense benefit to us at Yaqeen with her work on mental health, on Muslim mental health, but to the Muslim community as a whole. I think that we all rely on her work, alhamdulillah, her guidance in this regard. And she is, of course, just someone that we tremendously value. And I think she has a better bookshelf than Shaykh Abdullah too. So, welcome to the show tonight, Dr. Rania. May Allah bless you. Barakallahu feekum. It's wonderful to be here with both of you. Alhamdulillah. Barakallahu khayran. And honestly, tonight, inshallah, when we get into Surah Yusuf, if there is any surah that is as healing or as subhanAllah, just offers so much to us in that regard, I can't imagine anything that benefits the way that Surah Yusuf does. So, I'm excited to hear your insights on Surah Yusuf. JazakumAllah khayran. InshaAllah. So, inshaAllah, I'll start with the seerah background and the introduction, bi'dnahi ta'ala. So, when we get to Surah Yusuf, which pretty much takes up the entirety of Juz 12, I do want to at least just make note of Surah Hud, which proceeds. Because there is this hadith from the Prophet ﷺ, or rather about the Prophet ﷺ, that Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said to the Prophet ﷺ, Ya Rasulullah qad asra' ilayka ash-shayb. O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, suddenly I have noticed the grey hairs hastening on you, O Messenger of Allah. We know that the Prophet ﷺ had just a few grey hairs, but they seem to come all in this singular time,
this period in Makkah, towards the end of Makkah, when the Prophet ﷺ was facing his most difficult moments prior to al-Isra' wa-l-Mi'raj, prior to the night journey. And the Prophet ﷺ said, shayyabatni hud wa akhawatu hadha. Surah Hud and its sisters caused me these grey hairs. And in another narration, the Prophet ﷺ specified, Surah Hud al-waqi'a al-mursalat an'amma yatas'aloon an'idha shukoo'irat. Again, Surah Hud al-waqi'a al-mursalat, Surah an-Naba and Surah al-Shams. And, you know, SubhanAllah, Shaykh Yasir was saying, if you really want to read something that shakes you to your core, read the Makki Qur'an, and these are surahs that were all revealed in Makkah, and they revolve around the hereafter, and they revolve around the importance of staying firm. And the particular verse that Ibn Abbas ﷺ mentions in Surah Hud to the Prophet ﷺ, Fastaqim kama umirt wa man taaba maak, wa la tatghul. To be firm as you have been commanded and those that have turned back with you, and do not swerve, O Messenger of Allah. Allah ﷻ sees all things. So, the call to the Messenger ﷺ to remain firm ﷺ, and to not turn back, and to maintain his istiqamah, to maintain his firmness. And that's where the most frequent du'a of the Prophet ﷺ comes, Ya muqallibal qulub, thabbit qalbi ala deenik. O Turner of hearts, make my heart firm on your path. And I know Shaykh Abdullah is going to talk about that, inshaAllah ta'ala, as well. So that is Surah Hud. Now when we get into Surah Yusuf, which makes up the majority of this juz, obviously this surah is unique in that it is the singular story of Yusuf ﷺ. And that is very unique because most of these surahs have multiple prophets that are mentioned.
In the case of Surah Yusuf, only the prophets that are within his direct bloodline ﷺ are mentioned by name. His father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather. Otherwise, this is all the story of Yusuf in Surah Yusuf. And as we talked about last year, and I think it's important to talk about this year, the context of this revelation was Aam al-Huzn, was the year of sorrow. So the most difficult year of the Prophet ﷺ's life, and this surah comes down. And subhanAllah, it is noteworthy that the Prophet ﷺ would meet Yusuf ﷺ. Of course, he would meet all of the prophets in prayer ﷺ on the night of Asr al-Mi'raj. But after the surah was revealed to him, Yusuf ﷺ would be one of those who he has a specific meeting with. And the Prophet ﷺ would note the beauty of Yusuf ﷺ after having revealed the beauty of or having received the revelation of this beautiful surah, Yusuf. So what we learned from this is that right after one of the most difficult surahs on the Prophet ﷺ, we have the surah that brought him the most comfort and the most ease. And in that is really a sign, subhanAllah, in and of itself. The way that the messaging of the Qur'an is coming to the Messenger ﷺ, and how he is to see his parallels, how he is to see his own life story in the context of the life stories of the prophets that came before him, that made up that beautiful house of prophethood. And in the case of Yusuf ﷺ, the Prophet ﷺ is able to see a parallel of himself in every single way, being abandoned by his brothers, ending up in a strange land, ending up in all sorts of different people's power until the Prophet ﷺ himself rises to power and the people that caused him harm are now at his mercy ﷺ,
just like the situation of Yusuf ﷺ. So you find all of these parallels in the life of Yusuf ﷺ to the life of the Prophet ﷺ that are supposed to give him a level of comfort and a level of perspective ﷺ to see the way through. And the Prophet ﷺ also, in Amul Huzn in particular, the year of sorrow in particular, some of the enemies of the Prophet ﷺ were pleased because they felt like they finally broke him ﷺ. So they took pleasure in seeing the pain that they caused to the Prophet ﷺ. And in the situation of Yusuf ﷺ, they took pleasure initially in the pain that they caused Yusuf ﷺ, but of course we know what would happen after that. So just as the Prophet's enemies rejoiced to see him so sad and he did not have anyone to console him, which is another thing, right, the concept of loneliness, prior to Amul Huzn the Prophet ﷺ had Khadijah ﷺ on her and he had Abu Talib for physical protection. Now the Prophet ﷺ was alone. He didn't have his wife or his uncle to support him ﷺ. So as Yusuf ﷺ is going through this journey of the different Ahwad, the different circumstances, he's doing it alone, right. He only has Allah ﷻ. And Amul Huzn marks the year that the Prophet ﷺ truly only had Allah ﷻ to turn to. Allah ﷻ says about Surah Yusuf in general when he talks about the stories, and I know that Shaykh Abdullah will share some of this as well, but Allah ﷻ says, Allah ﷻ says that there is a lesson in these stories for those who possess pure thought.
This is not a fabricated tale, but it's a confirmation of that which came before it. And it is a detailed explanation in regards to all things, and it is a guidance and a mercy for people who believe. And I think this matches up perfectly with what Shaykh Yasir shared last time about what the Qur'an is. So SubhanAllah, the Qur'an was described in multiple ways in that one verse in Surah Yunus that Shaykh Yasir talked about. But here in particular, this feature of the stories of the Qur'an is described in this particular way, a confirmation of what came before it, a detailed explanation of all things beyond it, and a guidance and a mercy for those who believe. Finally, I'll just end with two things which I think is very important. Usually when you're talking about the virtues of particular surahs in the Qur'an, it's very likely that you'll find many fabricated narrations or weak narrations about the specific surahs. But one way to know the place that a surah held with the sahaba of the Prophet ﷺ was the frequency with which they recited it. And so we find that with Abdullah bin Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, there are narrations that when he would go to a people and he would introduce them to the Qur'an, that the first surah he would recite to them was Surah Yusuf. And then a very beautiful narration, one of my favorite in this regard, is from a tabi'i by the name of Al-Farafisa ibn Umair, who says that, maa akhathtu surat Yusuf illa min qiraati Uthman ibn Affan iyaha fissubhi wa min katrati makana yuraddiduha. It's an authentic narration. He says that, I did not memorize Surah Yusuf except by the way that Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu used to recite it in the fajr prayer due to how much he used to recite it, how much he used to repeat it over and over and over again.
And we know that Uthman ibn Affan radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was a man who particularly was tried with the fitna and with the assassination. So the fact that Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu would recite this surah so frequently in fajr, that if you just prayed fajr regularly behind Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, you would have memorized the surah, it shows you the mekan, it shows you the place that the surah had in the heart of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, in the heart of the companions, and in the heart of all of those who struggle and who suffer for all times to take comfort and to take affirmation in this beautiful surah of the Quran. And inshaAllah ta'ala with that I'll just invite Dr. Rania if she has anything to share inshaAllah ta'ala regarding the nubuwat of Shaykh Abdullah. JazakumAllah khair. BarakAllahu fik, mashaAllah it's always really inspiring to hear about the backdrop of Surat Yusuf because for many often ask is sadness discussed in the Quran and is grief discussed in the Quran and we think about how there was an entire year for the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam as you mentioned called Aam al-Huzn or the year of sadness and how Surat Yusuf is the antidote that comes soon after that. And subhanAllah it's really you know when you think about the points in the seerah that this happens as you mentioned the death of Surah Khadijah radhiAllahu anha where she is the anchor for the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam she's his internal support and his uncle as you mentioned Abu Talib is his external support protecting him from Quraysh and all that's happening there. And their deaths subhanAllah were just within they say about five to six weeks of each other very very close to each other and then soon after that comes the most difficult day for the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam which is the day of Ta'if and we know this because Sittin Aisha radhiAllahu anha asked the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam one time Ya Rasulullah what is the most difficult day for you you know is there anything more difficult for you
than the day of Uhud and he said really just quickly immediately said the day I was rejected by the chieftains at Ta'if so it was very kind of a difficult moment for him in his life salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and when you look at this all three of the incidents are right after each other one after another after another and of course the backdrop here is that the Ummah of Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam the Muslim people who are the beginning of Islam this is when the boycott economic boycott is happening as well so they're in the time of persecution and poverty and difficulty and at this moment is when the Surah Yusuf is revealed to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and when you look at it inshallah you realize that it comes to console him it comes as a time of strength for him and a time of trials and tribulation a time of pain and anguish and yes it's true that we have these emotions of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam himself had these emotions but Allah subhana wa ta'ala teaches us how to deal with these emotions and to uplift us and to give us solace and comfort and so inshallah ta'ala as you mentioned I hope inshallah we make Surah Yusuf part of our healing journeys inshallah BarakAllahu fikih JazakumAllahu khair Sheikh Abdallah, Tafadhal Mashallah exactly that's well put mashallah is part of the healing journey as you mentioned it's a journey that will be ongoing for us because you know subhanAllah some scholars say that the qalb means heart but some scholars would say that you know it's qalb because qalb means flip so it has that emotion which stays in motion and always changing from sadness to happiness and you know changing their situation the situation will always fluctuate and change and that's why it's important to maintain the ultimate dhikr of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and to remember the beautiful name of Allah ta'ala the exalted
and that is subhanAllah a good segue to what I wanted to speak about in the chapter of Hud verse number 120 that throughout these trials and tribulations if you would say I mean we can even say fitna because ultimately linguistically fitna comes from that which purifies something so throughout these tests or you know throughout this journey of life if you will there will be things that you encounter that will test your heart and that is a means for purification for you but subhanAllah you know you see within reading throughout these stories of the prophets particularly in the chapter of Hud you see that numerous prophets are mentioned Allah subhana wa ta'ala at the very end of this surah he gives you the reasoning behind it and which is so beautiful because when we read the stories of the prophets it's good to read as a story and it's something that is very beneficial for our youth for us example as an example as adults and you know as he mentioned in the life of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam you know the year of Ta'if when he explained to Aisha radiallahu anha meaning that when we read these stories it's important to stop and say okay how does this apply to me how does the situation of Ta'if apply to me when my relative may have you know something may have happened to them or something may have happened to me or someone that I know what do I take from that how can I move on from that instance and that that thing that took place with someone or someone else what can I do to where it's positive for me and those around me and it is a process Allah subhana wa ta'ala says in this chapter Allah subhana wa ta'ala says and in each story we relate to you from the news of the messengers is that which we make your hearts firm will make your hearts firm and there has come to you in this truth and instruction and a reminder for the believers so here the first thing he says that
we are telling you the news of the messengers these stories that we are relating to you is for your hearts to become firm so the purpose of reading this is for your hearts to become firm throughout these encounters that you may be hearing or seeing or you know dealing with that hopefully inshallah ta'ala it's something that will allow you to be resilient and come back from you know that sadness or those being emotionally distraught at certain times by the permission of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and by you taking the proper means while you were here and alive to make sure that it is a means for you to strengthen you and those around you so when reading the stories of these prophets as was mentioned with the prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam that it strengthened him throughout his mission and that ultimately goes back to your ultimate purpose knowing and have uncertainty and acknowledging that purpose then after that Allah subhana wa ta'ala when he says here after that he says so three things that he mentions that these three things that this story that this that these stories of the prophets come from that the goal of them what we should get from them the first thing is truth the truth from Allah subhana wa ta'ala that all of this took place and that all of this is from Allah subhana wa ta'ala al-haqq that he is the truth and he brings nothing but the truth so understanding that these stories are truthful events that took place in human history that's the first thing and to understand that this is not something that is make-believe rather it is something that actually took place and from there we understand that this truth is something that we can ask ourselves a question to further strengthen our hearts then after that is in instruction and admonishment
so when we see certain messages and when Allah subhana wa ta'ala mentions the stories of certain people that he may not be pleased with and the stories of those who he is pleased with from the Ansar or sabikuna al-awwaloon for instance min al-muhajireen wal-ansar when we see the characteristics of the muhajireen and the ansar how were they the companions take instruction from that look at yourself and ask where do I stand in regards to this and then after that Allah subhana wa ta'ala says wadhikra and it is a reminder throughout all of this we're going to fall short many of us understand the fadl of Abu Bakr you know that he was the most beloved to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and when we see these characteristics within the companions within the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam we know that this is a preferable thing it's preferable to pray in the middle of the night for example we may fall short of that in this beautiful month of Ramadan we may fall short of not taking advantage of one of the odd nights of the last 10 nights of Ramadan there are many things that we as mankind will fall short in implementing that to the best of our ability that's why it's important to do as you are doing in and tuning in and listening to the message of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and it's a remembrance reminder for a certain group of people there have been many times each and every one of us each and every one of us have tried to say something good or remind someone about something good but you see at that moment it may not affect them they may not listen to your message but this message as Allah subhana wa ta'ala says is for the mu'mineen, it's for the believers it's for the ones that have voluntarily submitted themselves it's for the ones that are trying their level best to have firm hearts so when reading this verse it's important for us to understand that this religiosity, practicing Islam if you will coming closer to God, trying your best to show gratitude is a process, it is not a one time event
and within that process there will be bad days and there will be good days but trusting in Allah subhana wa ta'ala that is the key, knowing Allah and trusting in Him and manifesting all the different aspects of worship we see it manifested within the lives of the prophets and taking that as the best example to keep our hearts firm May Allah subhana wa ta'ala keep our hearts firm on this beautiful message Thank you for reaching all of us It was amazing JazakAllah Khair Wonderful and subhana Allah I think one of the things as we segue in Dr. Vanya what's amazing about the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and about Yusuf Alayhi Salam is that Yusuf Alayhi Salam in prison and on the throne was the same Yusuf Alayhi Salam The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Mecca and Medina was the same Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Inna naraka minal muhsineen The way we see you to be from the excellent doers was what the prisoners said to Yusuf Alayhi Salam and what the brothers said to Yusuf Alayhi Salam when he was a king So the fact that they maintain a consistency showed their hearts never changed They were affirmed, they were certain So the circumstances changed but the certainty remained And so they maintained that conviction and that saw them through all of these different circumstances BarakAllah Faiq Sheikh Abdullah BarakAllah Faiq BarakAllah Faiq MashAllah it was beautiful because when you think about what you were saying related to you are who you are and should be who you are everywhere inside or outside and I'm reminded that one of my teachers would often in her dua make the dua, Oh Allah please allow our insides to match our outsides and our outsides to match our insides and that we be who we are always and true to you Ya Allah Allahumma Ameen and when Sheikh Abdullah was talking about Ya Muqallab Al-Qulub and the turning of hearts and how subhanAllah sometimes we
know people or even within ourselves that we have these ups and downs and waves and the heart turns and can turn quickly and so the dua is Ya Allah please keep our hearts firm on your path Allahumma Ameen MashAllah and inshAllah that's hopefully a good segue too to the verse that I hope to cover which is in verse 18 of Surat Yusuf and there are two main concepts in that surah, that ayah that I hope we get to discuss the first and they come together it says Fasabrun Jameed Wallahu Al-Muzda'anu Ala Ma Tasifoon so first I'll cover Fasabrun Jameed because here Sayyidina Yaqub, the father of Sayyidina Yusuf is now, the backdrop here is he's being told by his other sons that Yusuf has been eaten by the wolf and is taken away and the first thing he goes to is to say Fasabrun Jameed a beautiful, he's saying a beautiful patience and when we think about what that means if you would just reflect for a moment on a beautiful patience, that must mean that there are other forms of patience too and sabr, patience, has many levels then it's like shades of colors on a spectrum right, different shades of color and so not all patience is necessarily beautiful or jameed and so the scholars explain that a beautiful patience is one in which there is no complaining to the creation and only complaining to the creator Allah Subhana wa ta'ala that we don't seek sympathy from other people of course it's alright if other people comfort us and tell us it's going to be okay that's different from actively seeking out sympathy of others rather we take our complaints directly to Allah Azza wa Jal that if you have a complaint you take it directly to him exactly how Sayyidina Yaqub said a little further in the surah where he says
innama ashqubatthi wa huzni ilallah literally translated as I complain to Allah and someone might ask what is complaining to Allah mean? is that even a thing? is it allowed to complain to Allah? and the answer is yes just like how Sayyidina Yaqub did we're allowed to complain to Allah in a positive manner okay so what does that mean? it means that we don't question the wisdom of Allah Subhana wa ta'ala that's awfulness as in to say we don't say things like oh Allah why are you doing this? why me? no that's called i'tirad which is basically refuting Allah's wisdom we don't do that rather ashq or shakwa of complaining to Allah means you express your grief to Allah ya Allah you know what happened and it is causing me grief and so you try to elicit sympathy not from people but from Allah Subhana wa ta'ala and this is what Sayyidina Yaqub is doing here and so when he says about when he says fasabrun jameel this beautiful patience it's because he's complaining and talking directly to Allah Subhana wa ta'ala because there's different kinds of patience there's also you know the kind of patience that many of us may have but there may be a worldly benefit at the end of it like this concept of delayed gratification and I have to say if anybody knows the concept of delayed gratification it's physicians I personally studied 15 years to become a physician a psychiatrist in my case you know after my teen studies and that's a long time and when you talk to most doctors or physicians when you ask them how do you get through all those years of rigorous study and clinical work and it's exhausting years of training and they'll say there's a payoff at the end job stability, financial, prestige, whatever it may be but you see all of those things are dunya-ly payoffs and we don't want our patients to just have a dunya-based payoff we want to make sure that our work is whatever it may be
is accepted by Allah Subhana wa ta'ala because we're dedicating that inshallah it's for the dunya and the akhirah that if Allah Subhana wa ta'ala gives us the dunya in our hands He gives it to us in our hands but it's never in our hearts and so back to this concept of a beautiful patience or a sabrun jameel the highest level of patience it's because we know that the reward is not in the dunya the reward is with Allah Subhana wa ta'ala and the word sabr, to restrain or to withhold means to hold back and it's difficult because when you think about the word sabr it's a lack of action and when something happens to you that's difficult you want to take action if you're upset, your blood is boiling you want to do something about it, say something about it and yet you're being taught to exercise sabr or patience, to hold back, to restrain back and this is where the Prophet ﷺ said that the strong person is not the one of physical strength the strong person is the one who can restrain themselves when they are angry and that is the true test of strength and sabr is also with the mundane it's not just when you're angry it's even the everyday it's the routine, it's the chores and the working to feed your family and the cooking everyday and taking out the garbage and reminding your kids to pray five times a day and yourself that too requires a beautiful patience because the attention is with Allah Subhana wa ta'ala even if the people or situations around you frustrate you and it's not just those things and it's not just anger it's also at a time of calamity sabr is also at the time of calamity where we say inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon from Allah we've come into a longer return and sabr is when you lose a loved one and that's very difficult I myself lost an uncle just this morning we make dua for him SubhanAllah and when you think about the second part of what Sayyidina Yaqub here is saying after he says fa sabrun jameel he says
wallahu al musta'aanu ala ma tu'sifoon and Allah is the one I'll turn to for help against what you've described because he knows he knows that his sons are not telling the truth he senses something is off with the story but what is he to do? how is he to get his son Yusuf back? there's a certain level of vulnerability there a helplessness not a hopelessness but a helplessness of how do I get Yusuf back? so he turns to Allah Subhana wa ta'ala in hopes of finding Yusuf and it reminds us that we're never alone as believers we're never without help and this is where the Prophet ﷺ says whoever turns to Allah for help Allah will be sufficient for him and whoever asks Allah Azza wa Jal for protection Allah is sufficient for him but let's just be clear I just want to be very clear here that when we say turn to Allah alone for help it doesn't mean that we can't seek help from others or suffer that we're meant to suffer in silence alone actually it also means and important to understand that Allah Subhana wa ta'ala in the Quran says commonly the word that he's put in our power or subjugated help for us things for us he put these things in our help and he reminds us you know taking precautions and help in what he's given us so sometimes that might mean seeking help from other people because Allah has allowed for those other people to be the means by which you get the help right? and I say this particularly in my role as a mental health professional that this is really important that we remember that in our grief and in our sadness and difficulty sometimes we do need to actually seek out the means to get that kind of help and support and inshallah ta'ala that is a form of seeking and depending on Allah alone and it does not negate seeking help from the people or the antidotes or the medications or the so on that Allah Subhana wa ta'ala has also created for us and so I hope inshallah in closing here in thinking about this
that these two phrases wa sabrun jameel and wa allahu al musta'an are two phrases that we should memorize and repeat frequently inshallah and remember inshallah to turn to Allah Subhana wa ta'ala for that kind of help and inshallah ta'ala it will come through Subhanallah I've never thought of sabrun jameel in the way you just mentioned may Allah bless you it's so easy to miss that there are other forms of sabr that are not beautiful and I think that you know subhanallah the most beautiful sabrun jameel sometimes is the one that's just unspoken like I know sometimes we will express our own sabr by saying it's sabrun jameel we hope it's sabrun jameel but sometimes it's just this beautiful connection between you and Allah where only Allah Azawajal knows what you're going through and you bring that out in the most beautiful and most powerful ways in your du'a and I really do appreciate those reflections Jazakumullah khair Jazakumullah khair Sheikh Abdullah any reflections you'd like to share? Jazakumullah khair it's really you know when looking at Yaqub and Nuh you know subhanallah you see how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala within the lives of the prophets brings the epitome of the situation particularly these are the sons of Yaqub that were doing this and you know sometimes we as Muslims you know when we may see someone's children act a certain way you know it's very important that we do not just have some type of assumption that would further influence the way that we deal with the father or the mother you know subhanallah when we see this reality with the prophets we know that the ultimate controllers with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not alleviate us from our responsibility as parents, as uncles, as community members as neighbors but at the same time we have to be sympathetic to the reality that you know the heart is something that is very tender but at the same token you know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is ultimately in control
so when seeing you know you can just picture you know when the son comes in and he admits that you know he failed his class or something happened that he didn't anticipate for him for sabr al-jum'ah you know you can just picture you know just you just have to say it because what kind of sabr is that of the sabr of the family members because they know how to push your buttons they'll bring something out of you that no one else can and that's where subhanallah you know at that moment Yaqub just I can just picture Allah knows best you can just sabr al-jum'ah you know may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows best may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it so the patient very beautiful insight may Allah bless you I'll share one thing subhanallah that maybe Dr. Adani you can close us out with on this I think that for a lot of people there's only hardship and ease in that it's like two chapters what I mean by that is that it might be that you're in a difficult situation and then it seems like the door opens and then it shuts then and then for you that's finality so for example if I was in the case of Yusuf alayhi salam like okay you know I was put into slavery and okay I was absolved from you know some accusation but then at the same time right when the door seems to be opening now I get thrown in prison like so at that point okay so I guess I'm going to die in prison I feel like for some people I know I struggle with it I think a lot of people I mean it's like a story can only be two chapters like I'm in a bad chapter and so if I'm trying to open it get to the next one and then it shuts again then okay I'm just doomed to have it shut but this was like an ongoing you know story for Yusuf alayhi salam and you don't know what chapter of the story your own story you're in right now right and any advice that you can share with people in that regard in terms of healing how to see the light at the end of the second dark tunnel SubhanAllah it's beautiful mashallah and I really love how you said
we don't know actually what chapter of our own book we're in or even how long this book is is it a short book is it a long book is it how many chapters are in this book subhanAllah and I'm really reminded of how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you know when he tells us you know that inna ma'a al-usri yusra and repeats it it's a reminder you know with hardship comes ease it's a reminder that hardships you know are going to keep on happening and it's not it's not just one it's a plural I mean they continue to happen in our life and this is repeated throughout the Quran of the different kinds of trials and tribulations we as humans are going to experience a different combination each person will have and a reminder that this is part of hayat al-dunya it's this abode of tribulation that we're in it's not going to be like you said one chapter and then it ends it's actually a continuous number of tribulations that just pick up one after another but with every one of those hardships comes the ease it's like tucked inside of it literally because if the hardship comes the ease comes too and sometimes we just have to look a little closer to see it or eventually sometimes it lands around our heads subhanAllah right and sometimes you have to really like just try to discern what is that ease because Allah has promised it but he's also made it very clear that it's going to be one trial after another until we get to the akhirah and that's why it's such a difference you know that's why there's that's why the believer speaking of sabr and jamil that's why we have that beautiful patience through the tribulations of this dunya because there will be many of them and inshallah we will get to that akhirah and be pleased with our hisab you know with our judgments inshallah at the end and may Allah subhanAllah grant us that you know ability to fly on the sirat straight to jannah and really you know everything we've dealt with here all these difficulties and tribulations inshallah may it all be worth it that in that moment there in the day of judgment we say it was all worth it inshallah ta'ala inshallah it's really at some point I mean Yusuf alayhi salam
when he ascended the throne he remembered everything right he went through the stages again and it all makes sense when you get there the reality is that most of us won't be will not go through the extreme hardship of Yusuf alayhi salam nor end up in the high position of Yusuf alayhi salam in this dunya it is truly that in jannah may Allah make us amongst the people of jannah we do have the memory of what we struggled with but not in a way that causes us distress in jannah like we do recall it but we don't recall it in a way that makes us sad in jannah because we got a bad memory there's no trauma in jannah or remembrance of it in a way at that point it's alhamdulillah I remember when Allah got me through it as a means of bringing us gratitude to where we have gotten so may Allah allow us to have these conversations in jannah al-firdaws around and with our beloved Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam Allahumma ameen Jazakumullah khair very beautiful insights really enjoyed your presence as always Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless you Jazakumullah khair Sheikh Abdullah for your sabrun jameel with me every night, I don't know how to do it Allah bless you Jazakumullah khair Dr. Rania May Allah bless you Jazakumullah khair Please keep us in your du'as inshallah Jazakumullah khair May Allah bless you So whether you're a student, an imam, a counselor, a youth leader, an activist, a teacher, a child, a parent you deserve to have an expert to turn to when you want to talk about Islam you no longer need to imagine that single resource both our brothers and sisters in Islam and humanity can turn to for answers on the most compelling issues because yaqeen is that resource and it's completely free donate to yaqeen institute for islamic research today
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